I would like to make all the entries in a topic display in a different presentation, maybe a different theme, but especially different blocks on the right side. This would show all the news entries in that topic, with an intro just for that page, and blocks assigned just to it.

Right now, if you just click the topic, it shows the filtered news, but you still have all the stuff otherwise assigned to the News module. I need to filter the News entries by topic, but lose the other News stuff.

Can someone suggest how this could best be accomplished --either using the core modules and a little hacking, or with a third-party module without a lot of features I don't need.

I've tried looking at the Modules Repository, but most of them aren't explained very well and don't have demos. I would prefer to stick to the Core, if possible. But if a addon module is necessary, even if I could narrow my search, that would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

I want this feature too and have been looking for it...

Has anyone found a way to do this?

The AMS 2.2 module sorta does that. You can't adjust the blocks (at least not as far as I've figured out), but you can create a Topic Header for each topic. Check out my website (http://www.burning-river.com) and take a look at the Reviews - Movie reviews, Show reviews and CD reviews all open up with their own "header" atop the page. Hope that helps.